Rahul Gandhi enters Hindi row: 'Many languages, not India’s weakness'

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday jumped into the Hindi debate, stating that many languages are not a weakness for the country. Taking to Twitter, the former Congress chief posted the names of 23 languages adding that India having so many languages is not her weakness. The languages names by Rahul Gandhi are Oriya, Marathi, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, English, Gujarati, Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Konkani, Malayalam, Telugu, Assamese, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Nepali, Sanskrit, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Santhali and Manipuri.

Read his tweet here:

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Congress on Hindi row

Rahul Gandhi's tweet reiterated Congress leader Anand Sharma's statement amid the Hindi row. Anand Sharma had warned against any change in the three-language formula in the wake of the pitch made by Home Minister Amit Shah for One country, one language. Citing the Indian constitution, the Congress leader had stated that diversity of India had always been acknowledged and the Constitution recognises 22 languages. Adding that all languages are equally important, Anand Sharma had asserted that all languages should be equally respected in the country. 

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Opposition questions one language

Not just Rahul Gandhi, other Opposition leaders have raised questions against Amit Shah's push for Hindi to be used as a common language across the country. From DMK president MK Stalin to MNM chief Kamal Haasan, have joined in raising objections against the Home Minister's statement. MK Stalin hitting out at the Home Minister asserted that he is ready for any sacrifice to oppose 'Hindi imposition' in the country. He also called for students, youngsters, and Tamil people to participate in the protest against Hindi imposition, calling it an issue of culture and language. Kamal Haasan released a video maintaining that there would not be any compromise on the language and culture of Tamilians.

Amit Shah's one language pitch

Addressing an event on the occasion of Hindi Diwas, Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about the idea of ‘One Nation, One Language’, asserting that diversity of languages and dialects is the strength of our Nation. He called for the need for one language so that foreign languages don't find a place in the Nation. Adding that Indian freedom fighters envisioned Hindi as 'Raj Bhasha', he pitched for the nation to have one common language.

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